BAKU: India has to enhance its meteorological infrastructure and adopt a more robust multi-hazard early warning system for it to avoid loss of lives and minimise the impacts of climate change, said World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Secretary-General Celeste Saulo told TNIE.
The WMO's State of the Climate 2024 report was released during the United National Climate Conference (COP29), which began in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Monday. The report issued a red alert as the year 2024 is on track to be the warmest year on record.
From January to September of this year, the global average temperature was 1.54 degrees above the pre-industrial level. However, long-term warming measures over decades remain below 1.5 degrees.
Saulo said WMO works closely with the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), whose Director General of Meteorology, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, is one of the three vice presidents of WMO.
"India is very active and making good investments to enhance meteorological services. But, India being such a large country, there is a lot of scope for improvement. Especially in bringing the met services into the value chain. The active engagement between the met department and other ministries like agriculture, health and disaster management is vital," she told this reporter on the sidelines of the WMO presser.
Saulo said that the WMO will also be releasing a more detailed report in March, which would look at the region-wise impact due to sea level rise.
When asked about events like the Wayanad landslide disaster, which killed over 400 people, the WMO chief said this is where multi-hazard early warning will come in handy.
"There are many things happening at the same time. We need to analyse and react in a holistic way. We need the met services and at the same time, need other agencies working closely and understanding the risks."
India is also facing the threat of sea level rise. With its long coastline and dense population near the coasts, the danger is in front of us.
Notably, the WMO report says from 2014-2023, global mean sea level rose at a rate of 4.77 mm per year, more than double the rate between 1993 and 2002. The El Niño effect meant it grew even more rapidly in 2023.
Preliminary 2024 data shows that, with the decline of El Niño, it has fallen back to levels consistent with the rising trend from 2014 to 2022.
The sheer pace of climate change in a single generation, turbocharged by ever-increasing greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere, is unprecedented. 2015-2024 will be the warmest ten years on record.
"Climate catastrophe is hammering health, widening inequalities, harming sustainable development, and rocking the foundations of peace. The vulnerable are hardest hit," said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
However, not pushing the panic button yet, the WMO chief said: "Recorded global temperature anomalies at daily, monthly and annual timescales are prone to large variations, partly because of natural phenomena such as El Niño and La Niña. They should not be equated to the long-term temperature goal set in the Paris Agreement, which refers to global temperature levels sustained as an average over decades," she said.
"... it is essential to recognise that every fraction of a degree of warming matters. Whether it is at a level below or above 1.5°C of warming, every additional increment of global warming increases climate extremes, impacts and risks," said Celeste Saulo.
"The record-breaking rainfall and flooding, rapidly intensifying tropical cyclones, deadly heat, relentless drought, and raging wildfires that we have seen in different parts of the world this year are unfortunately our new reality and a foretaste of our future," she said.
Extreme events in India in 2024
India experienced extreme weather events on 93% of the days in the first nine months of the year
These weather events killed 3,238 people and affected 3.2 million hectares of crop area.
35 out of 36 Indian states and Union Territories experienced extreme weather events
Punjab and Haryana were the worst hit, as they experienced extreme weather events on 34 days.
They were followed by Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan that experienced extreme weather events on 27 and 26 days, respectively.
Current Status of MHEWS
Despite progress, gaps remain, with only 55% of countries reporting Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (MHEWS) existence as of March 2024.
Where MHEWS exist, there may be a substantial gap along the value chain. For example, 98 countries reported the existence of ‘Warning dissemination and communication’, but only 53 countries reported on ‘Disaster Risk Knowledge’.
Gaps are most pronounced in countries with special conditions.
20 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) have reported having MHEWS (44% of all LDCs), compared to 14 Small Island Developing States (38%), and 20 Landlocked Developing Countries (63%).
MHEWS coverage is notably lower in the Americas and the Caribbean region, as well as the Africa region. National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) from LDCs all include MHEWS as a priority. 88% of LDCs have included EWS in their Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) thus far.
